My day | Peaches Prattlings

{December 11, 2015} Which makes more sense?

A cold in the winter or a cold in the summer?

I should have said which sucks less, ha ha. I find that it doesn’t bother me as much when I am sick in the winter vs being sick in the summer.

At least in the winter, there’s a reason, it happens, it’s cold and dreary out, it’s going around, you get a cold. Put on warm jammies, get under the covers, have some warm soup and hot tea, box of tissues in hand and your set. You also don’t question, you have a cold, it’s winter, it happens.

Summer, you just get annoyed. It’s hot out, you go from heat to A/C to heat and back and forth, you get sick and annoyed, you do not want to be in bed in your jammies under the covers with hot soup and tea, you want to be outside enjoying yourself.

Now you now my opinion, what’s yours?

[I promise, this will not be a week’s worth of posts about having a cold, this was just a random thought]

{December 10, 2015} I hab a cowd

That translates simply to I have a cold.

I felt it coming on about a day or so ago and wasn’t site, but last night I knew, especially since I was tired enough in the afternoon to take a nap, so I got some nyquil out and waited for it to take effect.

By 330 this morning, I couldn’t figure out why I was still awake and when I went to the bathroom, I saw them sitting on the counter, duh! I promptly took the two pills and feel asleep shortly after.

I spent the day in and out of consciousness and taking dayquil, until PSM came over, with some beautiful lilac colored roses to cheer me up, light the menorah and then take me to dinner, a little Chinese restaurant down the street from my apartment.

Now, I am safely ensconced in my pjs, warm blankets and cats. I’m writing to you and then passing out.

Good night.

Couldn’t resist!

{December 6, 2015} Happy Chanukah

Tonight is the first night of chanukah and I was lucky to spend it with family.

PSM and I flew back from Hawaii today, we’ll, yesterday and today, sorry about no post, I didn’t think about it until today! We left at 5pm yesterday and arrived on the mainland late morning. Anyway…

Tonight startes the beginning of the celebration of Chanukah, also known as the Festival of Lights. For those of you not in the know, the Festival of Lights celebrates the miracle of what happened so long ago.

When the temple was destroyed and the Jews went in to clean things up, they found enough oil to light the lamps for one night, but a miracle occurred and it lasted eight nights. That is why we celebrate for eight nights.

Things that are special to the holiday are things like potato pancakes or potato latkes, they are fried in oil, which is what makes them special. We might also serve donuts, fried in oil, maybe filled with sweet jellies.

We play games like dreidel and sing songs. It’s so much fun as a kid and to play and see through the eyes of a child.

Each night, we light candles on the menorah, one more each day until the eighth night, the menorah is aglow with warmth and hope and love.

Tonight, I was with GES and family. The only thing missing was the rest of the family. Before dad left last week they celebrated chanukah together so they could enjoy the celebration together.

The menorah I lit when I got back to my apartment was one I picked up after we got back from our big trip. Doesn’t it scream Antoni Gaudi!

On the last night, I’ll post a picture in full glow.

Happy Chanukah!

{December 5, 2015} Nyquil equals night night

I’m about done for!

This will not be a long post as I am fading. I took a nyquil and it’s doing the job?

My allergies have kicked in to high gear and my eye has been itching like crazy. Tonight, I may have rubbed to hard! It hurts!

Then there’s the bee sting. It itches and hurts at the same time.

So, after a very nice dinner, we went back to the hotel, I took a nyquil and now…zzzzzz

{December 4, 2015} I rode in a tractor!

Today I got to be a kid!

Did you have Tonka Trucks when you were a kid? Did you ever dream of actually riding in one of those vehicles? Was one of them a tractor?

I did! Yes! Yes!

And guess what! I got to do that today!!

Today, I was invited to go with PSM and his co-workers to visit the farms he’s going to be working with in Hawaii. We visited the main site, the farm where his office will be, already had his name on the door, cool, huh?

We got a tour of the facility with some of the workings of what they do there. Then we took a drive to the next farm and what they do, both farms had major equipment. Somehow…someone said I might want to ride in a tractor and they said ok! Next farm!

We went to the North Shore to the third farm on Oahu, saw some cool stuff and then…I got to ride in a tractor, how cool was that!! Big kid time!

What fun thing is next?

{December 2, 2015} It’s amazing where you pick up knowledge

And how!

Today, I got stung by a bee! OUCH! I was on the beach starting to doze off and all of a sudden I felt a very sharp pinch, or sting, as it were and I waved away whatever had attacked me and when I sat up and looked, there was a stinger still in my arm. I promptly pulled it out, jumped in the water to get some cold water on it, then found the first aid station and they gave me an ice pack for it.

I didn’t have an allergic reaction, I’ve been stung by a bee before, it got very puffy around the puncture and eventually the swelling went down. Now it’s slightly raised and red around the area and tender. That’s all. I’m sure it will be fine tomorrow.

Personally, I like bumble bees, they’re cute and fuzzy and convert into really cool cars. Ha ha.

Now, I know you’re sitting there trying to figure out what a bee sting has to do with picking up knowledge. Haven’t you met me before? Now, to tie it all together.

I know it was a bee and not a wasp because of the stinger. Wasps do not have stingers. And the reason I know this is because on one leg of my flight to Hawaii, I watched Ian McKellen in Mr. Holmes. In this movie he plays an aging Sherlock Holmes who lives in a farmhouse with the housekeeper and her son and he keeps bees.

One day the boy gets stung and everyone thinks it’s the bees and he says it’s not, there were no stingers and bees leave stingers, wasps do not leave stingers. The boy was trying to figure out what was killing the bees and it was the wasps, so he tried to get rid of the wasps, unsuccessfully, but this I how I found out that I was stung by a bee.

I called my dad to tell him what happened and ask if he remembered that scene in the movie!

There you go wrapped up nicely.

Now, buzz off! Sorry, couldn’t resist! Tee hee hee.

bees

{December 1, 2015} I’m in Hawaii, what?

I was in Europe three weeks ago and now I’m in Hawaii? How does that happen? Well, I’ll tell ya…

I couldn’t say anything before, it was very hush-hush, but PSM was looking to shake things up a bit and one of the things he did was interview for new opportunities within his company.

And then we waited.

And we waited.

We got tired of waiting and ran away to Europe. And here’s where the cool part comes in.

It was our first day in Marseille and we were on the Il d’If, the prison I was telling you about that the Count of Monte Cristo was based on. We were in someone’s prison cell when he got the call. Cool, huh? I thought so.

Good thing it was a large prison cell, I had to walk around it for the next twenty minutes while he talked to his new boss! I took a lot of pictures from the same window, great view!

“But, JJ, you still haven’t told us why you’re in Hawaii.” I’m getting to that dear friends. The new position, if you haven’t followed my chaotic train of thought is…in, yup, you guessed it, Hawaii!

It has been a whirlwind! I couldn’t tell you before because I had to tell my family first and I couldn’t tell them until he told his family first and then his first cousin’s wife, AT was waiting so patiently for my sister to find out so she could say something! It was like a sitcom!

Now, I’ve told my immediate family, first reactions were: Dad “I knew that when JJ said PSM was going to Hawaii, she was going with him”, GES “April break, auntie’s house!”. ACS “oh yeah!” then I’ve told some friends and I’m working on telling the world. For PSM, it’s a quick phone call to friends and family, maybe a 15/20 minute call, max. For me…1-2 hours! My mouth went dry!

The plan is that PSM will move in January, he starts work mid-January and I will join him when my lease is up, around August/September. Until then, I will do what I can to visit him as often as possible, hopefully once a month, if not every two months. If I can get a job on the west coast, then it will be a lot easier to come on the weekends.

I have to tell you, it was easier getting here than I thought. PSM got a flight yesterday morning, very early as his girlfriend got him to the airport at 4am, what a girlfriend he has! He flew through Texas and got to Hawaii about 2pm yesterday. I flew out at 6pm, after a fabulous time at the Nutcracker with the family, got to LA about 9:30, got a room for the night and was back at the airport for my 8:30am flight, 10 hour layover and then to Hawaii and I got in about 12:15pm.

I have to admit, I think I liked the way I did it, especially if there were kids involved, fly 5/6 hours spend the night in a bed getting decent rest, then fly 5/6 hours the next morning, get in relatively early and have the entire day ahead of you. On the way back, I am flying through LA again, but with a one hour layover, we’ll see how I feel!

So, the reason I am in Hawaii with PSM…he is here looking for a place to live and I was hoping to, based on my schedule, join him so we could look and make decisions together and much to our surprise, things worked out and here I am!

It was a crazy day. I landed, PSM picked me up, we went to the hotel, dropped bags, went out for a bite to eat, then met the agent taking us around about 2pm, looked at about 6 or 7 properties. A few apartments, some houses, some town houses. We went in a few and others, we checked out the neighborhood to decide whether or not we wanted to even go inside.

The last house we looked at, from outside was in a great neighborhood, on a hill, overlooking the island and the farm PSM will be working with and met the neighbors, great people who we ended up talking to for TWO hours! The sun went down!!! It was a very long day, some of the houses started to blend in with each other, but I think we picked the one we want and fingers crossed it’s available!

We are on the island of Oahu, for those of you with inquiring minds. And now you know why I am in Hawaii! Looking for a place to live, can you believe it?

Yes, we’ll have a guest room, all ready for your visit!

{November 30, 2015} A very long standing family tradition continues…The Nutcracker

Today, the family went to see The Nutcracker Ballet at the Boston Opera House.

This is a tradition my parents started when GES and I were little kids. Every Christmas Eve we would all go into Manhatten and go to Lincoln Center and watch the City Ballet Company performance of The Nutcracker.

We would get dressed up, just like little girls do, get to our seats, settle in and wait for the the dings signaling that the lights were about to go out and the curtain go up.

It’s a little different as now, there are announcements instructing the audience to turn off their cellphones.

The lights go down and we sit on the edge of our seats waiting with anticipation…and then the conductor comes out to applause and the first note is played for the opening overture.

We are transported to a different time and place, not sure where, we were wondering that today, maybe Austria who knows, it’s timeless. We see Clara and her brother Fritz waiting for the party guests to arrive.

We did this every year for, we’ll, forever, it seemed, until we left NYC for other parts of the country and now, my sister had picked up where we left off and is making new memories with her children.

Last year was the first year I was able to go with them as that was my first time in Boston for Thanksgiving in a very long time.

I’ve been to and seen different performances over the years, NYC, as you know, Atlanta with my grandmother, once in an imax theater, on TV and now Boston.

I have to say that my favorite is still the NY City Company, is hard when that’s what you know and you’re used to, but I did enjoy the performance today. I was able to look at it as the ballet that was presented, some things felt different and some felt like they were missing, but it was still quite enjoyable and fun and my nieces enjoyed it and that’s all that really matters.

They were so well behaved, it was a pleasure to be with them. I have to say they outshone a lot of other kids!

We all had a wonderful time and another tradition is going strong and I how to be there for many more.

{November 28, 2015} A fine Chanukah party

Today my family and I were invited to a special event.

PSM hosts a Chanukah party every year for his family. It’s a tradition that has been going on for years.

PSM orders a lot of food, I mean a lot! There are platters of bagels, lox, cream cheeses, cheeses and crackers, a whole whitefish, egg salad, tuna salad, whitefish salad, a salad/salad, a kiegel, two quiches and I made a blintz souffle. We had platters of tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and capers, all the things that go with bagels, cream cheese and lox. And of course…potato latkes with applesauce or sour cream

Then there were desserts…cookies, cakes and pies, how could you go wrong?

It was PSM, his brother’s family, aunts and uncles, their kids and their kids kids, cousins and then there was us, and PSM’s best friend from college and his family. 39 people total. That’s a good sized crowd, wouldn’t you say?

So, there was food, then lighting the menorah, then presents for the kids. The nice thing is that only the kids get presents because all the adults make a donation to the charity of the year. Each year a different family member selects a charity. One of his aunts even gives each adult a check made out to the charity in their name.

This year, I got a check!! Along with a desk calendar like all the other “kids”. I guess I’m now part of the family.

It really was a nice party, a good time with good food, family and friends and I’m touched that we got to share in the day and experience, thank you PSM.

{November 27, 2015} Black Friday

Do you participate?

I am not a “Black Fridayer”, I have participated, but I am not into it. This is all my opinion, not disparaging anyone who’s into it.

Once I went with JCT and her husband, they are serious and hard core. That was my first and last serious Black Friday outing. Last year I went to one local store with my sister and a friend for about 45 minutes, hold yourself back.

Today, there were no plans for Black Friday, then I remembered that I needed something for a party tomorrow, so we went to a mall in the area and it wasn’t awful, we made it out alive!

We went in, found a few things and walked out and then back to the house.

Did you participate? What was your big find? Ready for next year?

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